I would really like to address the issues of pictures of herpes on the internet. What you will find is that many of the first sites that come up in Google, Yahoo, Bing (and the rest of the search engines), have managed to find the most inflammatory hideous pictures of herpes you could imagine. This does a great disservice to those of us with HSV for a few reasons. First, having first being diagnosed with the virus many of us will search the internet to see what we can expect our herpes outbreaks to look like. Stumbling across these sad and ridiculous photos can be terrifying and intimidating. The vast majority of herpes symptoms do not actually look that bad. In 20 years, … [Read more...]
Herpes And Smoking: Is There A Link?
May 15, 2010 By 3 Comments
I have always believed that herpes is a great signal from our body that all is not right. It can be related to stress either physical or emotional. The problem with me (one of them anyway) is that whenever I am faced with emotional stress I tend to revert back to old habits and unfortunately, my weakness has always been cigarettes. Sad but true. Smoking is very difficult on the body and can actually further increase stress by raising your heartbeat and compromising your immune system. This is no way a lecture to get you to quit smoking or to chastise you if you smoke when under stress. If you are under stress, choosing cigarettes as a coping mechanism and then adding guilt on … [Read more...]
Mild Genital Herpes Symptoms: I’m back!
May 11, 2010 By 5 Comments
OK, maybe that wasn't the greatest blog post title but I did want to take the opportunity to apologize for the lack of posting and lack of e-mail responses I've given over the past few weeks. I've had some personal issues to deal with (nothing to do with herpes!) Thanks for all your continued comments and e-mails. I love getting questions about genital herpes, because we really need to support each other and realize that we are not alone. If you are scared or confused having just been diagnosed with the female symptoms of herpes, don't be too afraid! There is life and happiness and great sex after a herpes diagnosis. So keep commenting and e-mailing; I will do my best to … [Read more...]
